Don't Be Cruel
by Nena
Summary: 2xR Songfic. "He had, of course, mentally scolded and just about beaten his mind into submission with his mental reprimands. She was the Vice Foreign Minister, for Heaven’s sake..."


AN: This is a 2xR Gundam Wing Songfic. I don't own Gundam Wing, the song _Don't Be Cruel _by Elvis Presley (though the version I've been listening to is by Chanel Campbell. It's really good, you can listen to it on her myspace. Oops. I don't own myspace, either.) Oprah, American Idol, Fruity Pebbles, or Superman.

*Rubs hands together*

This should be _fun_…

_**Don't Be Cruel**_

By _Nena_

The way he noticed the light dance across her face was the first time he knew he was falling for Relena Peacecraft.

The second was when she had touched his hand to point out a hummingbird feeding outside of her office. If it were possible to physically electrocute somebody through the simple contact of flesh, she had done it.

He had, of course, mentally scolded and just about beaten his mind into submission with his mental reprimands. She was the Vice Foreign Minister, for Heaven's sake. Not only that, she was voted one of the top 50 sexiest women in _ESUN Weekly_. The woman practically pissed sunshine. She could barely utter two words into that microphone every week without people gasping at her brilliance, the complete model definition of elaborate and revolutionizing speech.

Of course, he no longer paid attention to what she was saying, however hard he tried to. No. He could not think of _anything_ when she was talking save for the pout of her lips in that crippling Mauve lipstick, his mind relaying his vision in slow motion every time he watched her speak. It was his own dang fault!

If he had just stuck to the plan and not moved away from that junkyard when Hilde had decided to go back to college, if he had just continued working on what he was doing instead of getting wrapped up in Preventor's…actually _requesting_, harmless as the idea had been, to be on her security detail, he would have never fallen so hard.

"Duo?"

He fell off his chair and quickly righted himself up, rubbing the back of his head and grinning madly. No one had seen that.

"Can you come in here please?"

He jogged lightly towards her office, a bounce in his step as his braid swung back and forth behind his back. He reached her room and sniffed. Mmm, cookies…

"I brought these back from lunch with me. I thought you'd like some." She smiled up at him, her blue eyes lit up with amusement. He wasted no time in making his way over to her and grasping the paper bag out of her hands while simultaneously using his other arm to pull her into a bear hug. She laughed with a raspy voice into the crook of his arm, her skirt rising just slightly when he knocked her lightly off-balance and she leaned in to him.

"You are the best boss ever." He said, sitting the bag down and placing a finger under her chin to force her face up to him. He immediately realized his mistake. She was so close…

Her face scrunched and she sent him a scathing look. "I'm not your boss, Duo Maxwell. Stop saying that!"

"Oh, but you are, Princess!" He smiled, releasing her not quite enough in time to stop the effects she was already having on his body. Was it hot in here?

She ignored him and turned back towards her desk. When she sat down and started typing away at something on her computer, and he had successfully managed to calm his raging nerves at least for the moment, he casually walked over to her desk and hopped on to it. She barely spared him a glance as she looked critically at what she had just written. Curious, he turned the monitor towards himself and read it out loud.

"_My Speech for My Next Inauguration._" He raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her. "Wow, real creative there, 'Lena…"

"Oh, shut up!" She playfully slapped at him and turned the monitor back towards herself. The bag of cookies had managed to spill out on to the carpet, and he bent down to pick them all up. He dusted the crumbs away so that they could look cleaned up and situated on some less-noticeable place of the floor.

She looked up at him as he started chewing loudly while he read her notes, reaching into the bag and shoving one cookie after another into his mouth. Sometimes two. He was oblivious to it, however, and she finally decided to just sit and wait on him.

"What does…" He began, pointing at a word on the screen and leaving a chocolate smudge on the monitor. "_This_ word mean?"

She looked at where the smudge mark was as he again reached into the bag. "Benevolent. It means…beneficial, or with good will. Now, if you don't mind getting off my desk, I really need to…"

"So, like, I could say that your butt is benevolent, and stuff."

She looked up at him sharply and pushed him off her desk. He laughed as he stumbled backwards, more crumbs falling out of the bag and on to the floor. She couldn't help the grin that had made its way rebelliously across her face, and she tried to hide it by looking down at her papers.

"But, seriously, 'Lena, I've got an important question to ask you."

She looked up at him as he set the bag down and walked over towards her. His eyes looked suddenly serious and her heart sped up for a moment as he leaned over her desk and close to her face, sincerity in his eyes. He pulled out a rose he had been hiding in his back pocket and placed it on her desk, smiling at her.

"Do me?"

"DUO!"

"Do you? Oh, okay…"

This time, she swatted at him kind of hard, which made him quickly jump back and laugh even harder. He grabbed his bag on his way and jumped up and tapped the ceiling as he bounced his way out of the door, winking at her. She slumped back in to her chair, shaking her head, but no sooner had she turned to her monitor than he had poked his head back into the door.

"By the way, what are your plans for tonight? Am I going to be body-guarding you all around the city of Jacksonville or are we gonna watch American Idol, season 543 or somethin'?"

"You can have the night off tonight Duo, I have a date with Scott."

She missed the anguish that quickly passed over his face but was just as quickly gone, followed by false humor.

"You mean you're choosing Scott Blakeland, owner of the Blakeland Mights baseball team, billionaire-extraordinaire, and an evening of fine dining and expensive, elaborate cuisine over sitting at home watching American Idol and eating popcorn with _me_?"

She gave him a guilty smile and he threw his nose up in the air.

"Poppycock!"

And he walked out the door. She felt sorry, for some reason. It _was _becoming a weekly ritual; she just hadn't realized he had looked forward to it as much as she did. She thought that he would have enjoyed an unexpected night off of having to baby-sit the Vice Foreign Minister for once. Something nagged at the back of her mind, but she ignored it and set to work back on her speech.

---

Sweat glistened off his biceps as he pulled himself up the bar, his braid dangling and drops of sweat falling off the tip as he counted off his pull-ups out-loud inside of his apartment. His chest and abs were covered in sweat and he was breathing heavily while someone was horribly singing on the television, but even that couldn't take his mind off of her.

He clinched his jaw and glared ahead of him, boring holes into the wall. He really couldn't stand that guy. Relena deserved better than some clueless giant of a man who barely could spell his own name, let alone take a load off of her work in politics. And it wasn't like she didn't know this already. He had expected her to go on one date with him and be over it, but this was the third date. The third date!

He grunted and jumped down from the bar, grabbing his white towel off the couch and scrubbing it across his scalp, shoulders, and neck. He stared around at his spacious and luxurious apartment that was sadly disorganized and cluttered with various food wrappers and coke cans, evidence that he was, in every sense of the word, a bachelor. The large-screen TV beckoned to him and he grabbed a coke off the counter and fell down into the plush couch.

His mind, however, wouldn't seem to focus on anything but the way she had felt against him earlier that afternoon. She was so soft and feminine in every essence of the word, glamorous…divine, even. He didn't have a snowball's chance in hell with that woman, and he knew it.

_You know I can be found_

_Sitting home all alone_

_If you can't come around_

_At least please telephone_

'But how can you tell if she always thinks you're joking with her, you idiot?' His mind mocked him, and he downed the coke in one gulp, followed by a loud burp. He crushed the can in his hands.

"This is crazy! I need to find a girl. I'm just lonely."

He sat down on the floor and pushed his feet up against the wall, bending his legs. He took a deep breath as he placed his hands across his chest and proceeded to talk out loud as he did sit-ups, his stomach muscles straining.

"What does…*heave*…he know about her, anyway…*heave*…and why do I care?...*heave*…*heave*…it just doesn't make any sense!...*heave*…"

All at once a pain shot through his abdomen and he fell over onto his side, holding his stomach. He had pulled a muscle.

"Aw, feck!"

He scrunched his eyes for a moment as the burning sensation throbbed in his stomach, and after a minute he slowly opened his eyes and stared around.

"Oh my God. I just said feck."

It had been a word Relena made up in order to get him to stop using so much fowl language in the office. That, along with dan, chit, and ell. He didn't think she'd actually ever wear off on him so much. He was so screwed.

His cell phone vibrating on top of the coffee table forced him to sit up slowly, and he stood up hunched-over with his arm around his stomach as he made his way over to it.

"This is Duo."

"Duo, it's Relena. I know I told you you could have the night off, but is there any way you can come and pick me up?"

He rubbed his sore stomach absentmindedly, detecting a trace of stress in her voice. She sounded upset.

"Is everything all right? Didn't Scott drive you there?"

"Well, yes, but…"

She sniffed on the phone. He couldn't tell if she had been crying or just had a stuffy nose, but he didn't care. That was all the initiative he needed.

"I'll be there in a few minutes."

---

He could see her through his windshield, standing next to the valet in front of the restaurant. She had her coat clinched tightly around herself and the wind was blowing her long blonde hair wildly. She saw him out of the corner of her eye and faced him, smiling and waving him over. He pulled up next to her, and the valet gave him a wink as she jumped into the car and he drove off. He'd have to remember to order a background check on that kid.

They were quiet for a while, him just driving her around as she sat in her seat, fiddling with her nails and staring at the hula dancer on his dashboard. Several pictures were lined along the glass in front of his meters, and her attention shifted to each one slowly. Hilde was in one of them, smiling brilliantly into the camera as she held up her Associate's degree in Criminal Justice, her big blue gown halfway falling off her shoulders.

The next was of all five of the pilots just last year at Christmas, each of them looking much older and…in some ways, much more at peace. They had all separated, gone their different directions to find their own meanings and what-not. All except him. He had stayed.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and sighed melodramatically. She managed a small smile in spite of the disappointment that he could clearly see written across her face and flashed her teeth at him, covering up whatever it was she didn't want him to see. There was no use in her trying to cover up what she was really feeling with humor for him. He knew it like the back of his hand.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

She slumped her shoulders and resigned to his chastisement, already knowing there was no point in trying to hide things from him. Duo was pretty much the only real friend she had, and he was enough for her to get through the day. And it was absolutely impossible to hide things from him.

"Why is it that there are only two types of men in the world?"

His eyes widened slightly as he stared ahead at the road, already feeling for the life of him like he was about to take part in a conversation that would keep him up all night.

"Whoa! Hang on there, Oprah. What do you mean?"

"I mean…there are the ones that have that whole mysterious thing going on. The ones who play hard-to-get, or just play. They want women for their bodies. I mean, there are some who start off with the right motive, but it always ends up as something else. When it comes time for them to be responsible and grow the ell up, they simply decide they want to keep living like they're teenage boys."

"Ummm…"

"And then there are the ones like Blake. Successful, sweet, affectionate, and nothing more than pure sugar. They want to get married and have kids, the whole she-bang. But that's all they want."

His mind had ceased to stop working at the word _marriage_, and he counted the orange cones in the work zone on the side of the road to keep his temper.

"Are you serious? He asked you to marry him?"

She ignored his comment, busy talking out her little rant. "I mean, I want something _more_ than to get married and have kids, you know? Of course I _want_ those things, but I also want to be married to someone who knows me. You know? Someone who really, truly knows me. Someone who loves me to the point that I'm ruined for the rest of my life."

_Don't be cruel_

_To a heart that's true_

His mind was racing at her words, something in his training trying to force him to take a step back and _think_ about what she was saying and what it meant to him. So, Mr. Mighty-Man-Blakeland wasn't so high up on his pedestal as he thought he was, huh? No passion, no heart, no love. She wanted someone who _knew_ her. Someone who could _ruin_ her. He grinned, glancing down at her in that back-less black dress, her slender legs in those red high-heels.

Yeah, he'd ruin _somethin'_. Dan straight.

"He actually asked me to marry him on our third date. Can you believe that? He said, 'You're an important person. I'm an important person. We just fit, Relena. You deserve someone up to your standard, and I deserve someone up to my standard. I just think this is nature's way of putting two and two together. Survival of the fittest at its best. So, what do you say?'"

He stuck his finger down his throat and made a gagging noise, and she started laughing. He laughed with her, and was reminded that the sound of her laughter was the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard.

"Why can't there be more guys like you, Duo?" She said, sighing and leaning over the counsel in the middle of the car to rest her head against his shoulder. Her hair smelled like candy. He bit his lip and kept his focus on the road, his hand resting on his thigh twitching for a moment.

He had never thought she'd even ever consider him. She hadn't actually said that she was interested, but she had said she wanted someone like him. That had to mean something, right?

"Stupid." He muttered under his breath, shaking his head. All this time he could have been putting the moves on her and he had wasted it thinking she was out of his league. Of course, she was, but if she liked him than that didn't matter. Did she like him? Or did she think he was just her friend? Or did she think it was a bad idea given that he was her bodyguard and it would be putting them both in compromising positions?

She could think he was a freak. A joke, really. Comic relief for the office. Or maybe she was just lonely and wanted him around. He supposed he could live with that. It sure was a whole lot better than staying home alone all the time.

He pulled the car into her driveway and parked it, but as he went to move Relena didn't. Her head was resting slightly on his shoulder, and her breathing was even. She had completely conked out right there on his arm. He moved quietly from underneath her and laid her head down on the counsel before getting out of the car and making his way over to her side. Gently, he slid his hand under her knees and reached around to hold her up with his other arm behind her back.

She inhaled suddenly, in a half-dazed sort of way, and tilted her head forward, mumbling "I can get it." to him. He shushed her quickly, and her head fell back into the crook of his arm as she sighed back into sleep. He lifted her up out of the car and kicked the door closed with his heel before carrying her into the house.

As he made his way up the stairs and into her bedroom, the quiet in the atmosphere of the house started getting to him. It was dark and lonely here, and she didn't deserve to be lonely. She deserved all of the love in the world.

He laid her down in her bed, and she turned slightly on her side, facing him. He knelt next to her as she slept soundly and stared into her face. Her eyes were closed, and her long black eyelashes were set perfectly against their shape. He glanced towards the bottom of her bed and pulled a sheet over her skin, memorizing the curve of her hip and the thinness of her waist as it glazed over her dress. He gulped. She was oblivious to all of it.

Taking one last glance at her and burning the vision of her in his brain, he walked to the edge of the bed and gently pulled off her heels, then started to make his way out of the room. A glint caught his eye, however, and he turned quickly around and looked at her hand resting beside her head. There, though the diamond was turned towards the underside of her palm, was the golden band.

Something like betrayal flashed across his face as he bit his lip, his eyebrows suddenly knit together as he stared disbelievingly at the engagement ring. She had said yes?

---

The next morning, she woke up to the sound of a weight falling against metal. It was repetitive and annoying, and by the sound of the rock music blaring from her living room, she didn't have to guess who was in there working out.

_Baby, if I made you mad_

_For something I might have said_

_Please, let's forget the past_

_The future looks bright ahead_

Relena glared up at her clock that read 5:30AM and growled. She jerked the covers off of her annoyingly and decided not to think about the fact that she had slept in her dress and with her makeup still on, and marched her way into the living room, intent on giving him a piece of her mind, but stopped once she reached the doorway.

He was angry about something, she could tell. By the way he was jerking the machinery around. But that thought didn't register in her mind as much as the pack of abs bulging slightly along his torso as he lifted the weights did, veins popping slightly along his tanned arms. He breathed heavily as he hefted the bars up and, she found, she was too.

"Is there something you wanted?" He said, not looking up at her as he said it. She was taken aback slightly by his hostility towards her, not at all like himself. But then she got over it. Fast.

"Who peed in your Fruity Pebbles?" She said, placing her hand on her hips. He winced slightly and she took a step towards him, not sure what was going on. He kept lifting the bar and grinded his teeth as he spoke to her.

"I don't…know what you're talking about." He gasped, continuously pushing up the bar. She took another step towards him.

"Why are you in here making so much noise at 5:30 in the morning on a Saturday?" She yelled slightly, trying to raise her voice above the blaring speakers.

"Oh, I forgot. The world _does_ revolve around you, Princess." He seethed at her. And, yet, not stopping his work-out.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She said softly, obviously hurt by his remark. He ignored her and she stalked over to the radio and hit the power button, shutting it off. He continued to ignore her and, instead, started to lift the bar at faster intervals.

"You'd better stop before you hurt yourself."

He snorted at her as he continued, sweat pouring down his torso. She sighed and turned around quickly and started walking back up the stairs to her room, but halted suddenly when the bar made a loud _clang_ as it hit the metal, the rhythm completely stopped. She turned around to see what had happened and found Duo doubled over on the ground, his arm wrapped around his stomach. She ran over to him and lifted his face slightly, his eyes squeezed shut against some kind of pain.

She reached to wipe away some of the hair that had stuck to his forehead with sweat and he slit his eyes open. He looked up at her unsurely, but she didn't notice. The only thing she noticed was that she never realized how beautiful the violet of his eyes was until that moment, and wondered why she never realized it before.

He continued to wait for her to say something, a little impatient with her. It wasn't fair for her to torture him like this. She had no idea the kinds of things she was making him feel, all in vain.

"I pulled a muscle last night." He stated simply, and she blinked twice, as if coming to herself. When she realized what he said she pulled her hand away and sat back against her calves, shaking her head at him.

"Do you realize that you could have just given yourself a hernia? You could need surgery, Duo. Why were you working out like that?"

He moved as if to get up and she quickly got underneath his arm, helping him over to the couch. He fell on to it and made a small groan of protest, rubbing his shirtless stomach, and she sat down next to him, quietly resisting the urge to say "Lemme' get that for you."

He ignored her question and stared stubbornly at the wall. She crossed her legs and then her arms over her stomach, sending him a look that said she wasn't going to let this go. He moved his glare to her face, and then her hand. She balled it into a fist self-consciously, feeling the diamond dig into her palm.

"You said yes." He stated simply, looking her in the eye and making her feel like he could see right through her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew he could.

"I did not say yes." She said guiltily, looking down at the ring. "I just told him I'd have to think about it."

_Don't be cruel_

_To a heart that's true_

He cursed the glimmer of hope that seemed to betray his conscious, however small and insignificant it seemed. It was still there, and it ate at him. How could he possibly hope for her? He hadn't been able to sleep all night, thinking that she had said yes to that…that…_creep_. But that she would even consider it was beyond him.

"Didn't you just tell me last night that you wanted something more?"

She continued to look down at the ring, twisting it around her finger. The diamond was huge, and he felt shame for knowing he could never afford something that nice for her. Something like that that she deserved.

"I do want something more…" She said softly, moreso trying to convince herself than she was him. "I just…it's not always about what we want, Duo. The money and political influence he could lend my department could give us enormous support. We would be able to influence so many people…"

"But you wouldn't be happy, Relena. If you aren't happy then your work suffers. The people you work with suffer. The peace suffers."

He scooted closer to her as her eyes began to water, but she refused to let the tears spill over. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him.

"You've got enough in you that you don't need somebody else to help you make this peace happen. So, for once in your life, do something for yourself and choose someone who makes you happy." He smiled at her, his insides breaking. She smiled back up at him and kissed him chastely on the cheek.

_I don't want no other love_

_Baby, it's just you I'm thinking of_

He stood rigid for a moment, shocked. She didn't seem to notice it and jumped up from the couch, making her way to the kitchen. "I'm going to get you some ice. Don't get up. You're going to be couch-ridden for the next couple of days, Superman."

A smile spread across his face. He could live with that.

---

The rest of the day was spent lying on the couch as Relena played nurse for him, applying ice and then heat back and forth to his stomach (both to his and her enjoyment, though neither of them would admit to it). They watched the episode of American Idol Relena had recorded from the night before together, and went to bed (separately, of course) pretty early. Mostly because they had woken up so early that morning and both were worn out from their efforts at making him comfortable that day.

Sunday started off pretty normally. Relena had to go into town for church and then to the grocery store, so this left Duo at home alone with nothing to do but watch television. And the girl had no food in this stinkin' house.

He pushed himself off the couch and winced at his healing abdomen, holding his arm over it. He sniffed his underarm and gagged.

He needed a shower. Bad.

His stomach cramped in protest as he made his way slowly towards her bathroom, but he forced himself to stretch the muscle a little until he reached the door. When he got in the shower he realized he didn't have any of his special guy shampoo, and so he came out of the shower smelling like freakin' flowers or something.

He walked slowly toward the kitchen and opened a cabinet, pulling out a jar of peanut butter. There was no bread, so he grabbed a spoon and a glass of milk and set to work on it on his way back toward the couch. The doorbell rang suddenly, and he sighed as he lifted himself back up, straining his stomach muscle even more. Relena was going to kill him.

Despite these hostile thoughts, none of them could overpower the sense of protectiveness he felt when he opened the door and found Scott Blakeland standing on the doorstep with a bouquet of red roses in his hand. The smile that Duo was sure Scott had been perfecting as he waited on Relena slowly disappeared from his face and turned into a full-blown scowl. Scott Blakeland was not a happy man. The only thing he saw was some goofy-looking joker with nothing on but a towel around his hips and a spoonful of peanut butter in his hand, inside of _his_ fiancé's house.

Duo was struggling himself as he gripped the door handle, glaring at the ridiculously beefy man. The guy _had_ to be on steroids or something. Scott stood over 6 feet tall and was as broad-shouldered as they came, and a massive head of thick blonde hair fell around the sides of his big stupid head. He eyed him incredulously and leaned against the door with one arm above his head, sticking the peanut-butter-spoon into his mouth before pulling it back out and smacking loudly.

"Can I help you?" He mouthed slowly, giving the guy one of his smart behind looks. Scott blinked a couple of times and formed a creepy smile.

"I'm looking for my fiancé, Relena Peacecraft. Might I ask who you are?"

"I'm Duo, her bodyguard, and I don't think you understand what 'I'll think about it' means, now do ya' buddy?"

He looked shocked for a moment, and then angry. Good. He wanted him angry. This stupid son-of-a-bench didn't deserve Relena anyway.

"I don't believe that's any of your business. Where is she?"

"She's out," He started, moving away from the door and pushing it closed. "You'll have to come back lat – "

His sentenced was interrupted by the guy's massive foot wedging itself in the door. Duo jerked his head up in surprise and saw the guy eyeing him through the space between the door and the wall, furious.

"Let me make myself clear. She _will_ contact me sooner or later, and I don't want you to be around when she does, got it? I know you've got some kind of little crush on her, she talks about you all the time. I think it's about time you learned that bodyguards are nothing more and nothing less. You don't stand a chance with her, so get it out of your head." He leaned back and straightened his jacket and tie, shoving the roses in Duo's hands. "Me and her…we're gonna' have a_ lot_ of fun. _Nothing_ is going to ruin that, so stay out of the way. She belongs to me."

"Relena doesn't belong to anybody." He growled, crushing one of the roses in his hand. His hands began to twitch at his sides, rage building beneath the surface of his mask. "Least of all some selfish momma's boy who doesn't have the balls to give a decent proposal to the freakin' Vice Foreign Minister, of all people."

The door suddenly flew backwards and straight into his face as Scott rammed into it, knocking the flowers all over the living room. He stumbled backwards for a moment and then wiped his nose, pulling his hand back smeared with blood. He looked down at it and then back up at Scott and grinned sickly, the adrenaline building through his system blocking out the pain in his stomach. He charged toward Scott, not registering in his mind that the training he was reverting to was what he learned during the war – with the sole purpose of _killing_ someone. Scott let out a cry as Duo tackled him to the ground and began punching him in the face, his hand coming up bloody only after the first punch. Scott tried uselessly to push himself off the ground but underestimated the muscles in Duo's legs as he held him down, helpless to stop any of it.

His mind had reverted to soldier-mode, and it was only by the grace of God that he heard her voice in that moment. He immediately stopped as he heard Relena cry out his name, and looked up to see her standing above him with her hand over her mouth, wide-eyed. She shook her head 'no' at him, and he slowly got off of Scott, straightening his towel. Scott quickly scrambled to his feet and stood behind Relena, his face a complete mess of cuts and bruises already forming.

"Relena, the first thing we're going to do when this is official is get rid of this guy. He's a danger to you, the guy could fly off the handle any minute…"

"I heard what you said, Scott." She stated bluntly, her eyes saddened a little. He looked at her surprised for a moment, then laughed slightly, wiping some blood from his lip.

"What? What I said to him? Come on Relena, you know how guys are. None of that stuff really matters to you, you know how I really feel about you…"

"It matters to me." She said, lifting her head. Even though she was looking up at him, really, she was snuffing him and looking down on him. She pulled the ring off of her finger and placed it in his hands, walking back towards Duo and placing her arm in his. Scott had never felt so small in his entire life, and he laughed awkwardly, completely embarrassed. When neither of them responded, his laughter turned into a scowl as he walked towards his car.

"You're going to regret this." He said, unlocking the car door. "We could have made a difference, girl. You won't find anybody else like me."

She ignored him as she placed an arm under Duo's and helped him towards the house, his arm clenched around his stomach. The sound of the car driving off was the last thing she heard from him as she locked the door behind her.

He started towards the couch and she pulled him away from it, leading him up the stairs. They made their way up and she pulled him into her bedroom, but as she began to push him toward the bed he shook his head at her.

"You won't be comfortable on that couch. You'll be stretched in all the wrong places, and you need to get better." She said, pushing against his chest one more time. He didn't resist her and sat down on the bed, his head lowered. His body suddenly felt completely drained after Scott's attack, and he was fighting back sleep. She grabbed him by the ankles and pulled his legs onto the bed, and he fell backwards into the sheets without protest. She pulled the covers around him and shut off the lights, making her way out of the room as he had fallen asleep already.

_Don't stop thinking of me_

_Don't make me feel this way_

_Come on over here and love me_

_You know what I want you to say_

_Don't be cruel_

_To a heart that's true_

The next morning, she sat down next to him and started to run her fingers through his hair, moving his bangs out of his eyes. He sighed under her touch sub-consciously, feeling very groggy. She stopped for a moment and leaned close to him, sniffing.

"Why do you smell like my sweet pea shampoo?"

He laughed with his eyes closed, which turned into a cough. She grinned down at him as he yawned and glanced at his naked torso, his muscles illuminated by the sun shining through the window. Her brow knit together as she watched the same muscle twitch every so often along his abdomen, and she reached out and ran her hand along it smoothly.

His eyes flew open and he gasped at her touch, completely turned on by it but painful at the same time. He grabbed her hand and she pulled away and placed his hand by his side.

"I need to massage it." She stated simply, and reached over to her bed stand and pulled out some type of ointment and rubbed it along her hands. He stared at her wide-eyed through the whole process, feeling hotter by the minute. His breathing quickened, and if she noticed, she didn't say anything. As her hands reached for his stomach, he closed his eyes.

Her hands started softly against his skin and he gripped the sheets around him. She was torturing him, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to control himself for it. He was defenseless to stop her as she continued, her ministrations painful against the muscle, but relieving as well. He bit his lip as she breathed heavily and leaned over him, her stomach grazing his chest. Her hair hung in a low bow behind her back and he lifted a hand and placed a strand between his fingers, rubbing it together like silk against his fingertips.

She scooted back suddenly, and her hands began to roam over his chest. He sucked in a desperate breath of air as her fingers grazed lightly over the skin of his chest, shoulder, and then along his neck. She turned around to face him, a blush on her face, and began to massage his shoulders. His eyes were heavy as he looked down at her through them, something smoldering beneath the violet.

He was fighting back the urge to rip her clothes off and have his way with her as she continued, fearful that if he gave in to anything she would hate him, reject him, assign him to somewhere else in Preventor's. She had no idea what she was doing, his mind told him. But his heart told him otherwise.

And then he remembered something.

"_Let me make myself clear. She _will_ contact me sooner or later, and I don't want you to be around when she does, got it? I know you've got some kind of little crush on her, she talks about you all the time…"_

It clicked in his mind about the same time he felt her hand on his hip bone, pressing down. He surged forward and grabbed her by the back of her head, pressing her mouth to his. She stiffened for a moment and then kissed back with just as much desire, running her hands back and forth across his chest. He flipped her over and ended up on top of her on the bed as he pulled at the fabric of her shirt, kissing her the whole time. Her tongue entered his mouth and heat built up in his system, and he bit at her bottom lip as she scraped her nails across his naked back.

_Why should we be apart?_

_I really love you baby, cross my heart_

She slowly and deliberately pulled him close to her face, and as soon as he was close enough, she blew softly in his ear. He gripped her shirt tighter, and at his response, she placed her lips over his lobe and tasted of it softly. Above her, he shuddered and let out a small plea for mercy as she continued. Her breath was coming quickly as he explored her stomach and ribcage, running his fingers over the fragile bones underneath her skin and then pressing his thumbs softly into her hips.

She looked up at him and found his eyes in that far away place, lost in some kind of lust he had no control over. He was looking at her but seeing who she really was, intimately connecting with her on some other level that she had never seen before. She cradled his face in her hand as he began to unbutton her shirt slowly, watching her the entire time.

"How did it ever take me so long to realize I was in love with you the whole time?" She said softly, rubbing her thumb across his cheek. His eyes widened slightly at her words, and his hands suddenly stopped on her shirt.

"I've loved you, too." He whispered. And then, as if coming to himself, he glanced around the room and sat back, observing their positions. She looked up at him, confused.

"This isn't right." He stated simply, looking her in the eyes. Something in her seemed to deflate at his response. Did he think it was a mistake?

She sat up on her elbows and stared at him unsurely, feeling very vulnerable underneath his gaze. He reached over and placed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I want to do this right." He said, smiling up at her. Her brow knit in confusion and she bit her lip. "I want to be married to you when we do this. I want to do it right."

Something in her swelled at his admittance, and a huge smile spread across her face. Not only did she have one sexy man, she had found the missing link. A man who wasn't a womanizer and one who wasn't bent on marrying her just to say he was successful.

He got up from the bed and leaned against the door with his hand, taking a deep breath and grinning at her as he tried to calm down. She found that she needed to too as she buttoned her blouse back up, but then an idea struck.

_Let's walk up to the preacher_

_And let us say "I do"_

_Then you'll know you'll have me_

_And I'll know that I'll have you_

_Don't be cruel_

_To a heart that's true_

"Let's go to Vegas." She said, smiling a wide, brilliant smile at him. He glanced up at her quickly, slowly registering what she was saying. A grin spread across his face.

"You mean…tonight?" He said, making his way over to her.

"Mmm hmm." She said, smiling at him. He reached for her and kissed her softly, unable to believe that she was actually in his arms this way.

"Are you sure?" He whispered, pressing his face into her neck. He paused as he awaited her answer, feeling like his entire world rested on her response.

"You ruined me for anyone else a long time ago." She said, kissing his neck. "Yes, I'm sure."

_Later that day…_

She stared oddly up at the Elvis impersonator in his big sunglasses and white bell-bottom outfit with tassels in places she would have never even dreamed to look. Duo was next to her trying his hardest not to die laughing as they said their vows to one another. When he was finally able to stop laughing, he looked up at her slowly, and his gaze on her face wiped away everything else in the room. She saw only he and her in that moment, and a lifetime of laughter. And sex. Lots of it.

She looked down at Duo's fine butt as Elvis pronounced them husband and wife and cheers went up around the room.

Yep. Lots of sex.

Ell yes.


End file.
